November 04, 2007
Mrs. Gregoire gets an "F" for open government

The Seattle Times' Mike Fancher writes today that "National study gives Washington a big, fat "F" in easing access to government information"

Open government lawyer Greg Overstreet comments:

To see the full report, go to last week's og-blog posting on this. It shows that corruption-challenged states like New Jersey and Louisiana beat Washington's pants off on open government. That should concern you. A lot.
This helps place in the proper context last week's praise for Mrs. Gregoire from Governing Magazine (a magazine for people who work in government):
After a year, even Republicans were conceding that Gregoire had brought state government a transparency it had never known before.
Overstreet comments on this too:
with all due respect Madam Governor ... State government transparency has improved some. But credit for transparency goes instead to the (bi-partisan) combination of Attorney General Rob McKenna (R), House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler (D), and State Auditor Brian Sonntag (D).

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 04, 2007 11:44 AM | Email This
Comments
1. Stefan,who would know better then you on "Openess" of state(county) govt.

Posted by: Yakima George on November 4, 2007 12:05 PM
2. Their F on this matches the Drop Out School system dumb down programs they support.


Remember this when you vote yes or NO to hand them a consitutional amendment next week enabling "The Sky is Now the limit" larger bloated school bonds to be passed with a mere majority!

Aren't your property taxes high enough yet?

Posted by: GS on November 4, 2007 12:30 PM
3. I'm sure we'll hear all about her being on the cover of that stupid magazine when she campaigns for re-election. Her selection for the cover story of that magazine is meaningless, pointless, and worthless. Just about as worthless as the weekly emails she sends to all state employees touting her achievemnets - its almost as if she's already running for re-election just among the state employees - yet using state resources to do that. I know of certain state employees that have rules set in their email inboxes to automatically delete any and all emails from her office because they offer no value to their everyday work. She is a joke.

Posted by: Michael H on November 4, 2007 12:36 PM
4. Nice openness Stefan...and way to avoid mentioning that 38 states got an F.

You make it sound like Washingtion is one of a few...give us a break, please and report the whole story, not just convenient little pieces that allow you to claim a false point.

Why? Because astute readers will now (appropriately) question every bit of data you provide as being taken out of context and incomplete...meaning even your valid points have less weight.

Posted by: Bill Anderson on November 4, 2007 05:46 PM
5. Bill-

While there is validity to your point, 37 of those states didn't have their Governor on the cover and applauded for "open government."

Posted by: Andy on November 4, 2007 05:52 PM
6. I don't care who ya are...NOW THAT'S FUNNY!!!

Git R Done!

Posted by: SP Fan on November 4, 2007 05:53 PM
7. Bill A. YOU ARE CORRECT!!!!

But I still remember (and my vote counts come election time, not some cowboy in montana) when the good ole governor told me she wouldn't raise my taxes last time she ran.

How is the 9 cents per gallon tax she imposed to fix that Viaduct going for ya? I mean, jeezzz, does she want a tunnel, retrofit, or hell a new bypass, who knows, she can't make her mind up. Those BLUE ribbon panels don't do much either, but I am sure they get paid well.


So if you want to talk about transpancy, just keep on babbling about those other states. It doesn't matter, you can't vote there anyway. Stick to our own problems, and you will see that our Gov is a "Chicken" when it comes to REAL issues.

Posted by: chris on November 4, 2007 07:43 PM
8. Dino Rossi needs to hit this point hard, if he is going to have a solid hope of winning against the odds. Maybe Rossi should call himself the "comeback kid". If I recall, Bill Clinton got mileage out of that reputation in the mid-90's.

Posted by: KS on November 4, 2007 08:56 PM
9. With this boondoggle of a governor who has never seen a higher tax or a higher state spending bill she did not absolutely love, Rossi is the best possible candidate for the job.

She has accomplished nothing but the continued and unending pilfering of our pockets.

Rossi wrote budgets which were inline with where government spending should be, not in the neverending upward spiral of Gregoire's dream land.

Go Rossi!

Posted by: gs on November 4, 2007 09:24 PM
10. Bill Anderson,

We shouldn't grade on a curve. If 38 states get an F, then 38 states need some serious reform. However, I can (legally) only vote in this state, so I'll start here...

Posted by: Edmonds Dan on November 4, 2007 09:51 PM
11. Nice to see Brian Sonntag get a favorable mention.

Posted by: Kirk Parker on November 4, 2007 11:32 PM
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